CHILDREN's HEALTH
Listen to worried parents, study urges hospitals
Parents and caregivers know their children, and they know when something's wrong, even when the children are hospitalized and clinicians aren't yet concerned. Asking a simple question — "Are you worried your child is getting worse?" — during routine monitoring was effective, a new study in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health reports, potentially lessening the risk of minor illnesses worsening to become critical.
To draw this conclusion, researchers analyzed the records of nearly 190,000 pediatric patients, 4.7% of whom had parents who flagged early, sometimes subtle signs of deterioration that were noted in the medical record. Children whose caregivers expressed concern were more likely than other children to need ICU admission or mechanical ventilation. A caveat: The study was conducted in one Australian hospital early in the Covid-19 pandemic so results could differ in other contexts.
"The message raised by this study is clear: To improve the care of all children, we must let the voice of the family in," Asya Agulnik of St. Jude's Children's Hospital writes in a companion editorial. – Elizabeth Cooney
BRAIN INFECTION
Say NO(se) to neti pots
Neti pots have always seemed a bit bizarre and Hieronymus Bosch-esque to me, but I've never been a skeptic — until now. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report Thursday showing that nasal irrigation with tap water is a risk factor for a rare and potentially fatal brain infection.
A previously healthy 71-year-old woman developed primary amebic meningoencephalitis after using a nasal irrigation device filled with tap water from an RV's water system at a Texas campground. Eight days after developing severe neurologic symptoms, including fever, headache, and an altered mental state, she died.
The CDC report is the latest federal report to warn about the improper use of nasal irrigation devices. Neti pots and their ilk are often used to help people breathe easier or alleviate a cold, but harmful infections are possible if you're not using distilled, sterile or previously boiled water, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
RESEARCH
The hidden health care cost of a climate disaster
When a flood, wildfire or other climate disaster strikes, most of the media attention is on helping communities rebuild their infrastructure. But there can be harmful long-term impact of disasters on access to health care and health facility closures, according to new research published Thursday in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Taking county-level infrastructure data from over 3,108 United States counties and the 6,263 climate disasters that occurred in them from 2000-2014, the report details a robust association between severe climate events and closures of hospitals and outpatient care practices. No significant associations were found among pharmacies. Counties that lost these facilities were more likely to experience high poverty and greater racial segregation.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for DNC
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